Fechtschule; Germany, 1623

This 17th-century copper engraving memorializes a Fechtschule (here in the sense of public fencing contest) of the obscure Klopffechter brotherhood that took place in Nürnberg’s Heilsbrunner Hof in 1623. The competitors comprise a hard-to-distinguish mess of pairs wielding Dussacken, two-handed-swords, and sword and dagger. More Dussacken lie scattered along the right-hand barrier.